


Yes, Chef

by awkward_ace



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cooking, Cullen is a chef, F/M, Gen, Humor, Kissing, Pre-Relationship, Romance, chef
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-27 22:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16711402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkward_ace/pseuds/awkward_ace
Summary: Cullen is always so stoic and while they admire it, even find it sort of alluring, they have to wonder if it extends into everything he does.





	Yes, Chef

** Hot Behind! **

It had been a spur of the moment thing.

Cullen was usually so _serious_ , his expression stoic with the littlest pinch between his brows— _intimidating_ she had heard some people say. She supposed some of it was left over from the military, that the stoicism allowed him to run such an efficient kitchen. But sometimes that seriousness left his face and a grin would crack through, or rarer still a smile, and it lit that face of his up with boyish charm. Sometimes a startled laugh would escape with a grin, a rich, deep sound that sometimes started with a huff.

“Nerdy” Haldir called it. Pria found it adorable.

She had been wondering if he would still be so serious after being kissed, and while standing by him as he prepped for the night’s dinner, she had randomly given in to impulse as they spoke and teased one another, and gently set a hand on his face to turn it towards her.

She kissed him.

She didn’t expect anything, necessarily, but curiosity got the better of her; his breath had drawn in sharply, his body freezing, and then he’d sort of relaxed all at once, leaned into it and returned it. She found his lips to be surprisingly soft and inviting though a little chapped, the scar at one corner smooth but not unpleasant. Warm, she decided. He was a warm kisser.

When she pulled back, his eyes had remained closed for several moments before slowly blinking open to stare at her questioningly. She smiled, briefly rubbing her nose against his, “Sorry. I should have asked—hope that was okay.”

“Why?” he asked, voice odd and stilted. She tilted her head and shrugged, “Curiosity? You’re so stoic so much of the time, I was curious if that would carry over.”

He stared again before an eyebrow quirked up, the corner of his mouth pulling into an amused half-smirk. Her stomach did an odd flip and a slight fission of annoyance glanced up her spine—didn’t he _know_ what that stupid eyebrow thing _did_ to people?

“I see,” he said, “And does it?”

“Maybe a little,” she replied.

He hesitated before setting the knife he held down on the cutting board, wiped his hands on a nearby towel before turning to fully face her. “I was surprised,” he murmured, “Let me try again?”

Pria laughed, reaching out to set her hands on his arms, circling her thumbs on the underside of them. He was wearing a pretty sort of storm-grey button down, the sleeves rolled to just below his elbows and exposing his strong fore-arms, the odd little burn mark here and there; it suited him. “Cullen, it wasn’t a _bad_ kiss.”

“I don’t want to be a _stoic_ kisser. Not to you,” he said softly, setting a hand on her waist, “Please let me try again.”

She suddenly realized that all his blushing and fumbling when she teased him might not have been the result from his being unused to such attention; at least, it wasn’t _just_ that. The realization made her stomach do a somersault and she felt a little light-headed. “Oh,” was all she could say.

“May I?” he asked, his hand sliding from her waist down to rest on her hip, drawing her a little closer to him. It fit well there, she noticed, right at the swell despite there being not much hip at all for him to grab. She nodded and decided that seeing him smile like that, all lit up and happy, was worth it, stoicism or no.

He drew her against him, thumb slipping under the hem of her shirt to rub gentle circles against her skin as his other hand skated softly up her arm to cradle her neck. “Thank you,” he breathed against her mouth before closing in and kissing her again.

The breath left her body.

There was so much _heat_ behind his kiss, the press of his lips against hers hungry and deep and maybe a little desperate as his hand shifted from her hip to the small of her back, broad and warm as he locked her against him. He smelled good—spicy and clean, with musk and smoke from his cologne; it swamped her in the best way, clouding her head and pulling her into a fuzzy reality where the kitchen around them didn’t exist.

His teeth bit gently at her lip, the edge of his tongue swiping along it as she let herself melt into him with a deep sigh and a quiet, pleased sound, her arms looping tightly around his shoulders and neck. Pria felt him smile slightly against her mouth and, just to even things out a bit, tangled her fingers through his curls, mussing his careful styling, and lightly scraped her nails along his scalp with a soft yank.

Oh, he _liked_ that.

He breathed in sharply, a slow shiver working down his back as a quiet moan slipped out, the next bite at her lip more insistent and accompanied with a teasing tug. Her lips parted invitingly and in the next moment he had her pressed against the counter, hands smoothing over her spine under her shirt as his tongue found hers with soft strokes. Her back arched without her permission, thighs parting just enough to let his knee tuck between them as she ran her hands down his chest and stomach.

_Spirits_ , had he _always_ been so _stacked_? Certainly she’d _admired_ before, had felt the strength in him whenever she hugged him, but it was one thing to _look_ and another thing to _feel_ him like this, strong muscle shifting under her palms, the warmth of his skin radiating through his shirt. Her mind began to run away from her, down more interesting paths that had her clothes off and finding other uses for his mouth and hands and hips. She moaned.

Cullen pulled reluctantly away, pressing a softer, tender kiss to her mouth before resting his forehead against hers to catch his breath. “ _Maker_ ,” he mumbled dizzily.

“ _Mmnh,_ ” she agreed airily, dazed. _That’s it. I want this one. He’s mine._

She couldn’t exactly recall the last time she had felt such a pull towards a man, let alone _let_ herself be swept along by it. She much preferred women because _women_ —but Cullen...well, he wasn’t some magical creature, but fucking _hell_ he was cute and sweet enough to make her teeth hurt and it seemed he knew how to _kiss_. He was worth her time.

“Not stoic,” she added after a moment, breezy, and nuzzled her face into his neck with a hum of satisfaction. He laughed and she smiled like an idiot into his shirt.

“Will you stay? After everyone…?” he asked softly.

Pria peeked up at him, eyebrow raised and teasing, impish grin on her face. “Why, Cullen,” she said, “Are you trying to get me _alone_?”

“No! I…I mean, _yes_ , but—not for any, uhm… _untoward_ reason—not that I _don’t_ think of you—I mean I d—I just—I don’t _not want_ — _Maker’s breath_!” He was a rather fetching shade of rosy pink from the tips of his ears down to his neck, which he was rubbing fastidiously in the way he always did when tripping over himself verbally.

It was rather adorable how he could go from confident to bashful and bumbling in the span of a few heartbeats.

_I really want to eat him up._

Her grin widened and she leaned up and kissed him softly, silencing his muttered self-admonitions. “I’ll stay,” she assured him, “And if you happen to have nefarious purposes in mind, I’m quite alright with that.”

His blushing deepened but he smiled widely and wrapped his arms around her to hug her tightly, lifting her off her feet and making her squeak in surprise. “I should…finish getting things started,” he said, once he set her back down and letting her go with clear hesitancy. She made an agreeable noise, “Wouldn’t want our group to get hangry. Bad things will happen.”

He rolled his eyes, smile sneaking back onto his face, “Right. Shouldn’t make the evening news.”

“Should I not distract you, then?”

“Probably—but I very much like it when you do.”

“ _Mr. Rutherford_ ,” she chided, “For someone who claims to not have ulterior motives, you’re certainly doing a good job of seducing me.”

“Am I?” he raised his eyebrows, eyes widening innocently in a way she didn’t entirely believe, “I’m not even trying.”

“You should, sometime, then.”

“I haven’t even taken you to dinner, yet.”

“Mm. I accept, then.”

“Accept?”

“You taking me to dinner.”

He blinked once, slowly, before smiling crookedly with a huff of a laugh. “Pria Lavellan,” he murmured affectionately, brown eyes warm and soft as he looked at her admiringly. “You are…something else.”

She wrinkled her nose playfully and stepped away to the sink to wash her hands, “I know. Now come wash your hands—I’ll finish prep and you can start cooking.”

Cullen’s lips pressed softly against her neck as he moved beside her, ghosted up along her jaw to kiss the slant of her ear. “Yes, Chef,” came his teasing reply before his hands joined hers under the stream of hot water.

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching too many cooking shows and reading too much Anthony Bourdain and my brain decided that Cullen would make an excellent chef, post-military career, and that Haldir would be a badass sous chef for him, so a half-formed Modern!Au came out of that, and here we are.
> 
> Chef Cullen, cooking for his friends, and being 'bothered' by one Mx Pria L.


End file.
